News

The emergence of “18-hour” cities as magnets for investment and development will be discussed at the J.C. Nichols forum, an event being hosted on Thursday, September 29, by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) at Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The forum honors the legacy of Kansas City developer J.C. Nichols, a founding ULI member considered to be one of America’s most creative entrepreneurs in land use during the first half of the 20th century

The Housing and Insurance subcommittee held a hearing to examine international factors affecting domestic insurance markets.  Subcommittee members questioned hearing witnesses on the various international regulatory standards being considered by the G-20, the Financial Stability Board, the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, and other international supervisory authorities.  In addition, today’s hearing gave members the first real opportunity to examine the covered agreement negotiations between the United States and the European Union.

Over 40 percent of American homebuyers feel taken advantage of or are confused by the calculation of title insurance fees on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) new mortgage disclosures, according to a new study by the American Land Title Association (ALTA)

The Urban Land Institute (ULI), a research and education institute dedicated to responsible land use and building thriving communities worldwide, has been awarded a $115,000 grant from the Leichtag Foundation to support the institute’s Building Healthy Places Initiative’s focus on food and real estate. This effort seeks to explore the intersection between real estate development and food, and demonstrate how access to fresh food can help enhance human health, the environment, social equity and food system security, as well as community sustainability and prosperity.

Chairman Luetkemeyer, Ranking Member Cleaver, Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to testify today on the impact of U.S. – EU dialogues on insurance markets. Today’s hearing focuses on prudential aspects of international insurance matters, including the prospect of an agreement on such matters between the United States and the European Union.  With respect to these topics, Congress granted the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) the following authority

Representatives from the National Institute of Building Sciences Multihazard Mitigation Council (MMC) and Council on Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (CFIRE) headed to Capitol Hill September 22 to brief Congressional staff about updated research and recommendations on incentivizing mitigation.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a settlement with Sears Home Improvement Products Inc. that resolves alleged violations of the federal Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule for work performed by Sears’ contractors during home renovation projects across the country.  Under the settlement, Sears will implement a comprehensive, corporate-wide program to ensure that the contractors it hires to perform work are properly certified and follow required procedures to prevent exposure to lead dust from home renovation activities.  Sears will also pay a $400,000 civil penalty

The DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) closed two loans for rehabilitation projects that will preserve affordable housing in Southeast DC— at the 93-unit Parkchester Apartments at 2704 Wade Road SE, and 1314 K Street SE, a 12-unit cooperative building

The modeled costs to install solar photovoltaic (PV) systems continued to decline in the first quarter of 2016 in the U.S. residential, commercial, and utility-scale sectors, according to updated benchmarks from the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Driving the cost reductions were lower module and inverter prices, increased competition, lower installer and developer overheads, improved labor productivity, and optimized system configurations.

The National Institute of Building Sciences will host a free webinar Thursday, October 6 from 1:00 to 2:00 pm ET, to highlight an emerging energy performance concept—outcome-based pathways. This new approach to achieving efficient energy use addresses the needs and challenges of numerous stakeholders in the building industry

Construction employment increased in three-fifths of metro areas between August 2015 and August 2016—the smallest share in nearly three and a half years—as contractors in many areas report difficulty in finding qualified workers, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said the new data underscores the need to make it easier for school officials to set up programs that teach skills like construction.

David H. Stevens, CMB, President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), issued the following statement on Freddie Mac's new credit-risk transfer offering: "MBA appreciates Freddie Mac's efforts to bring more private capital into the market through the credit-risk transfer offering they recently announced. In this early stage of the credit risk transfer market, it is important to experiment with different transactions and structure types to evaluate their long term economic and competitive impact.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it is making $3.3 million available in cooperative agreements to support research to develop and improve methods for the identification and control of key residential health hazards and to improve the implementation of policies that address these hazards.

In response to changing conditions in the condominium market, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) today proposed new regulations governing the approval process for condominium developments. FHA proposes to reinstate single unit approvals in unapproved condominium developments and to require condo projects to recertify their approval status every three years rather than the current two-year requirement

The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) welcomes an elevated discussion and proposed solutions to the country's affordable housing crisis. Together with our members, partners and allies across the country, we work towards ensuring the lowest income families have decent, safe and affordable homes. While we are pleased to have Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) prioritizing solutions to the affordable housing crisis, his proposed Middle Income Housing Tax Credit (MIHTC) program would be a misguided and wasteful use of federal resources

In an effort to help low-income public housing residents secure higher paying jobs and access to greater opportunity, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced a $14 million investment in six public housing authorities and their partners

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has been named a key strategic partner in the new Better Communities Alliance, which was announced by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the White House this week. The Better Communities Alliance (BCA) is designed to ignite clean energy action in cities and counties across the U.S. USGBC, through its sister organization, Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), is utilizing PEER (Performance Excellence in Electricity Renewal) and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) to advance the goals of the BCA.

GRID Alternatives, America’s largest nonprofit solar installer, today announced installation has begun on 92 solar installations in six tribal communities in California, Montana, and South Dakota with over $1 million in cost-shared grants from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to these individual tribes

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is holding a hearing today on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan. Following is a statement from Tom Kimbis, interim president of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), on the proceedings:

The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and National Apartment Association (NAA) issued the following statement today in response to the Obama Administration’s release of a Housing Development Toolkit to encourage local governments to remove barriers to the development of apartment homes and increase overall housing affordability